The Wasp — 1893 — page 464: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This December 2, 1883 *Wasp* cartoon satirizes an apparent scandal involving "Miss Mackay's Italian Prince." The dialogue references matrimonial fraud: the man (seated, styled as a nobleman with decorative medals) is praised for being a "brilliant success—for a Prince," implying he married for money despite lacking genuine nobility or character. The woman (standing right, elegantly dressed) appears to be Miss Mackay, likely from the wealthy Mackay family. The satire targets both the fortune-hunting European "nobleman" and perhaps the American heiress for accepting such an obviously mercenary match. The "considerate" title is ironic—the prince's only virtue is successfully marrying wealth. This reflects 1880s anxieties about wealthy American women being duped by fraudulent foreign titles.